Happy Holidays from the Swans

 

2021

Here come the holidays, and another turbulent year to close. Let me try and gather my thoughts beyond simple sound bites (aka tweets). I'll poke into my iPhone's pictures each month to try and garner a summary. 

2021, in review by month

January: 

After the horrors of an attempted coup by our former president*, where I was simultaneously reading "The Plot Against America," by Philip Roth...

...life settled down into a series of trips up north to Inverness, Limantour beach, etc. visiting Gibby and Grandpa Greg on weekends. One day on Limantour beach there was footage of a booby trap prepared by the girls where they dug a hole under a picnic blanket hoping someone (Kiera, Gibby or Grandpa Greg) would fall in after coming back from their beach walk. Alas, mama was too smart and figured it out. 

Jason also sent the Packer crew customized hoodies for the playoff run that, sadly, fell short. Mine was the Star Wars themed "Stay on Target" with a super bowl trophy barely visible at the center of the target. "Almost there," was the final summation of January, 2021. 

Lil' b took some photos of the plants out front on their 11th bday.

February: 

We rented a place up in Pine Mountain Lake with Nathan, Mala and family for a Norcal only Presidents' day weekend, breaking the annual tradition that included the Daileys from LA coming up and meeting us somewhere on the central coast. COVID was the reason for this break. Jeff Dailey works in IT and had to be in the office. It was just too risky at the time.

We had one of many biking adventures to come, this one with Ceci, Sol, Ollin, Shae, Mila to USS Hornet on the western side of Alameda Island.

March: 

Pictures of foot golf with Nathan and Levi...

...and a visit to Chloe and Will's (new, soon to be old) place in Pacifica where Jasper got to meet Hector, their cute German Shepherd puppy. 

The end of the month saw another trip up north to Inverness and Pt. Reyes. 

Also: I got my first COVID vaccine shot on the 31st.

April:

We stayed up in Arnold for a week at the Wenzlers' place with Gibby and Grandpa Greg. We attempted to take a long hike, though Kiera, Gibby and the girls turned back at some point and Greg and I took Jasper along to complete the grueling rim trail path. The payoff was a multitude of grand pictures from atop of a pretty steep ridge, with Jasper peering over the edge. 

Also: I got my second COVID shot on the 21st. As I quipped at the time, I'd be "Corona Free on Cinco de Mayo." Kiera got her first shot around the same time.

May: 

We went camping with friends to Hendy Woods State Park for Kiera's birthday. An elaborate surprise was planned by the kids and me, including a photoboard tribute. For some reason the only photo I got of it was with it closed.

We also took a family trip to the (then, still socially distanced, not that it would really matter because it's usually that way anyway) coliseum for an A's game. 

June: 

June was eventful. I scheduled a day on June 3rd to go to the office to bring home any items I had left behind before the pandemic hit. It would prove to be the last time I'd set foot in the old Townsend/Bluxome St. office as Cisco let the lease expire. There is a new campus downtown in the AppDynamics building which I have yet to visit - and, the way things are going, may never. It was surreal to say goodbye to a place where many connections were made - from the original Beulah HWS mixing sessions at the old Mr. Toad's in 1997, to actually working in the same building starting in 2014. 

We had a nice end of the school year gathering, a quasi-graduation party for some of our closest cohorts from Olivia's class from Melrose Leadership Academy. 

Liv got her first COVID shot on June 9th, just in time for our road trip to WI. 

The road trip to WI: 

We went to Hoover DAM, Grand Canyon, Denver, Iowa City, WI where the girls got to see Grandpa Swan for what ended up proving to be the last time. When my dad's face lit up every time the girls walked into the room - I had this feeling that it might be the last time I'd see him alive too, like maybe he was waiting for this moment so that he could finally be at peace and be able to move on from this rock. After 4 days on Lake Winnebago in Menasha, we then headed west to Black Hills, Badlands, Yellowstone, then Boise to see cousin Missy, and back home. All in all, a two week road trip. We were glad to be home. 

I still owe the world (or at least myself) the full tour diary from this trip. I was in the process of recalling it but stopped for reason's I'll explain in August. 

Also: There are so many pictures from this trip. K's updates on FB is the best place to see those. I will, however, share this one: 

July: 

K and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary with a trip to Carmel for a few days alone for some time to relax and reflect

...then met up with Gibby, Grandpa Greg and the girls for a trip to the Monterey Aquarium. Thanks to COVID, it was the only time we'd been there in recent years where it was not too crowded.

We also went camping in Santa Barbara along with Rebecca, Zander and Audra, a last west coast hurrah before they moved to Springfield, IL. We got to see Greg's son Nick. his wife Ariel for the first time since their oldest son was still a baby - and met the younger two boys for the first time. 

And finally, we went to the Van Gogh experience in SF late July, which was breathtaking.  

August:

Yeah, August. Many years prior I had written, or attempted to have written, a song about how "Bad things happen in August." In truth, it always seems to be the month of highs and lows, and this year was no exception, though I suppose there weren't many highs this year.

The month started off with the mundane anxiety of needing to either fix the bed in our bedroom or get a new one. A TMI journal of the process followed, summarized (tl/dr) by this collage:

Took a bike trip with Marcos to Treasure Island and back on the 15th, with plans to make it a series that month but then life intervened. 

On the 19th I got a note from Tom that Dad was in the hospital after suffering what appeared to be a massive stroke. I was on a plane to WI by the 21st, hoping I'd just be able to make it in time. Cathy also flew in from Paris. When we got there it was pretty clear that comfort care was the only option, and it was. 

Dad passed away just after midnight on the 25th, with Cathy by his side. I had left earlier in the evening, at peace with the fact that I may be asleep in his own bed when he passed on. And then it ended up being almost 2 weeks before the funeral on Sept. 7th. Passing away just before the labor day weekend can have that effect on things. 

During those two weeks I took many day trips to places I'd been with my dad throughout our corner of the state, or to places he'd mentioned in the past that I'd always wanted to visit, such as Door County. Lots of driving, solitary walks, my way to grieve, but also to say goodbye to the state I was born and raised in. 

High Cliff State Park:

Stockbridge (the other side of Winnebago):

Tip of Door County:

Ephraim (Door County): 

Two Rivers:

Sheboygan:

Lake View Cemetery:

Becket's (Where we had M&D's 50th Anniversary party 10 years ago), flying the Tony Bourdain flag:

Brewers' game with Tom, Cathy and Emile (got their asses kicked):

Statue of Liberty, Neenah

I wasn't able to visit my mom at the nursing home much during this time because it seemed like they were on perpetual lockdown. No sooner that the all clear signal would be given, some other resident or staff would test positive. 

At any rate, I figured it would be a bit - though potentially not that long - before I'd be in WI again, certainly for 2021. Or so I thought. More in a bit. 

Anyway, RIP Dad. 

September: 

Funeral was on the 7th. Got to witness summer turn to fall in WI for probably the last time. 

It was nice to see family - in truth we weren't expecting many of dad's friends. When one reaches 94, you typically outlast most of your friends. I was grateful to get a hold of Lloyd Novakowski though, who is slightly older than my dad - who also happens to live in the Bay Area now. Made a note to wish him a happy birthday in October and to visit some time during the holidays if possible. 

Club soccer returned in earnest in September. For Brenna, another season of the Colibries, the team that was born in MLA and now branching out to some younger kids from different schools. Since Kiera was team manager, I would miss most of the games since they tended to overlap with Liv's games with her new Oakland FC team. 

Liv's team name was simply "Oakland FC," as it was a combination of two previous teams, the Wonder Girls and the Cookie Monsters. An actual name was never decided on, so they went with something not unlike the "Washington Football Team." 

I really enjoyed watching this season - it was a reminder of the future at hand, after a month of grief and reflection. 

We went to another A's game too - this one had a walkoff win. Or was it a beat down? To be honest, I don't remember. And that's not because I was drunk. Also, failed to mention this in August, but on the 13th I became 2 years sober officially. 

October: 

Deep in the thing of all things soccer. Liv acclimating to life in High School, a bit of an adjustment, but all in all, things going well. She happened to have fellow club soccer pal Frances (formerly of cookie monsters) in gym class and they became fast friends in the sport. More to come on this in November. 

We went to see the cutest cross country meet ever - little Levi running the race and doing warmup stretches (captured on video) is the cutest thing since ... the word cute was invented probably. 

Many morning walks with Kiera up the hill to near the temple and back at 6am with Jasper. I looked forward to these 2 mile walks every day - as it has become a new routine where we would catch up on things in our own time without anyone else around. In years past, that time was out back for "wine down" time after the kids were put to bed but - well, I don't do that anymore. 

The end of the months saw the return of halloween and trick or treating. 

I wore a costume for the first time in a while. It was a banana suit. 

November: 

The big news to kick off the month of November was that Liv and her friend Frances made the Skyline varsity soccer team - the only two freshmen to do so. Here was the tryout, mere minutes before they found out. Pretty big deal. 

Their club team ended up being league champions. They came into the tournament mid months being undefeated, and they ran the table in the tournament. Here is Liv (L) and Frances (49) in one of tournament games: 

The Colibries also did well, coming up just one game short in the tournament, but doing really well. 

We drove to LA to visit the Daileys and go to Universal Studios to see the Harry Potter land one last time, then drove down to San Clemente the last night to stay with Chloe and Will's new place (they had bought a place in Pacifica earlier in the year, but then due to work had to sell that one and buy a beachside property in so cal). We went through some old photos, including our wedding, where Chloe was one of the flower girls 20 years ago - and here we were looking out the window at the ocean in their new, large, beachfront property, staying the night as their guests. 

Liv catching up with Griffin (for some reason this is the only photo I took at the Daileys - and none at Universal Studios. Not sure why.):

View from Chloe and Will's place:

The Oakland FC club indoor soccer started - but it was clear from the beginning that it was going to be a little dangerous. The first game ended with someone on the opposing team breaking her shin (and this with shin guards). The following week was a friendly scrimmage with the team and some parents as the other team forfeited. The week after that (in December I guess), Frances tore her ACL. This put a damper on indoor soccer, but also on the Skyline Varsity squad for Liv because now she didn't really know anyone yet on the Varsity team and had some trepidation about it. 

Here they were (before all that) for the first Skyline scrimmage together (#25 and #8): 

And warming up for one of the indoor games: 

Oh - and Thanksgiving at Uncle Noel and Aunt Kat's. Something comforting about the return to tradition, though somewhat bittersweet since Uncle Neil and Aunt Keeko were about to leave for their new home in Henderson, NV. It was the end of an era of sorts - since Noel and Neil had moved out to the Bay Area from Rochester all the way back in 1981. 

I didn't take any pictures of that night. But here's a random screengrab of the Thanksgiving morning football game (which I still need to edit): 

December: 

Everyone winding down for the holidays - and then, some news. Laura Chier's dad, Roger Field, passed away in Berlin. I flew back on the 8th to pay my respects, mainly to support Laura and her mom Ginny. The Fields were my god parents, so there was no question about me being there. I was going, snowstorm or not. Got to drive in a blizzard, home to Oshkosh after the wake. I didn't take pictures of any of that, but I did pay my dad a visit at Lakeview. 

Of course I got to see my mom during the trip. The first day she was alert and engaging - we caught up and had a nice conversation. The other two days she was tired and groggy. She is not in the greatest of health - is at stage 4 COPD so everything is day to day at this point. Helped string up this Christmas Tree: 

We just got back from a trip to Yosemite and Pine Mountain Lake. We stayed at the same place as we did back in February, this time with Gibby and Grandpa Greg. The valley was clear and beautiful (whereas back in February it was sleeting and the valley was fogged in). 

It was a nice, relaxing time (mostly). We also got to see Greg's son Nick and Ariel and family for dinner and some board game fun. 

On the work front, the company shuts down starting the 23rd. A bit of news last week was a key departure from my team from someone who'd been with Cisco for almost 11 years. It's the first loss I've experienced as a manager - though one team member moved into another group in our business unit last year. This departure is to the outside. Although I am sad, it wasn't a departure on acrimonious terms, but a life move long in the making. 2021 saw my team grow to 23 people and two people promoted to managers of teams of 7 and 8, respectively. When I became a manager in 2018, it was of a team of 6. That's quite a bit of growth for someone who, at first, thought about turning down the role of manager of people. At this time, after almost two years of COVID lockdowns, I am grateful to not only have a job, but one that has not only weathered that storm, but thrived within it. With a technology that happens to be tied to connecting people working from home, that's the luck of the draw. But as they say, what the good lord giveth the good lord can taketh away. It's best to stay mindful and humble - and alert. 

Did I mention I got the booster shot? As I posted that day on the socialwebs, "Just STFU and get the vaccine!"

Here's to a happy and prosperous 2022 - and one with less drama and, hopefully, an end to this pandemic (or at least a transition to "endemic."). 

Cheers. -b